Google close to finalizing one of largest Chicago office expansions in recent years: 800,000 square feet in Fulton Market

Google plans to move into two proposed office buildings in Chicago's Fulton Market district, including this one at 345 N. Morgan St. At right is 1KFulton, which has served as Google's Midwest headquarters since 2015. (CoStar Group)

Google plans to more than double its space in Chicago’s Fulton Market district, creating enough room to have thousands of new workers in the city.

Mountain View, California-based Google is finalizing deals to occupy all of the space, or about 800,000 square feet combined, in two buildings planned by Chicago developer Sterling Bay, according to people familiar with the plans.

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If the agreements are completed as expected, Google’s office space in Chicago would increase to about 1.3 million square feet over the next few years, creating an urban campus in the neighborhood once known for meatpackers and food wholesalers.

It would be one of the largest office expansions in Chicago in recent years, and would make Google one of the biggest tenants in the downtown office market.

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Google spokeswoman Kayla Conti declined to comment on the company’s future real estate plans. Google has more than 1,200 employees in Chicago, she said.

Google currently leases just over 500,000 square feet in Fulton Market, where it moved from the Near North Side four years ago. Both new Google spaces would be in buildings just a few feet north of Google’s Midwest headquarters in the 1KFulton building.

Sterling Bay plans to put up an 11-story building at 345 N. Morgan St. and an 18-story structure at 1000 W. Carroll Ave.

Google put Fulton Market on the map as an office market when it leased a large block of space in the former Fulton Market Cold Storage building, 1000 W. Fulton Market, in 2015. That deal paved the way for a wave of construction just west of the Kennedy Expressway that has brought hotels, apartment towers, retail and major office tenants including McDonald’s headquarters to the neighborhood.

Google leases about 372,000 square feet in 1KFulton.

The company in October opened a second office, leasing 132,000 square feet in a 12-story building Sterling Bay developed at 210 N. Carpenter St., a short walk south of 1KFulton.

“Our growth has been fairly organic over the years and we’re growing based on the needs of the business,” Conti said.

“The second building is really a hub for our growing cloud team,” she said of the Carpenter Street space.

Sterling Bay declined to comment.

Even as Google worked on the Carpenter Street space, company officials for months have been evaluating options for expansion in Fulton Market.

Google is represented by CBRE office tenant broker Kyle Kamin.

Google’s continued growth is another step forward in Chicago’s efforts to become a top city for tech jobs.

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Although Google’s Chicago office for years was dominated by sales and marketing positions, the company has grown in the city to include a large number of engineers and other tech workers. Google also is expanding its finance team here.

Other California-based tech companies also are in the process of major expansions in Chicago, including Uber, Salesforce, Facebook and Glassdoor.